UPA govt keeps its promise; mid-day meal scheme on track

NEW DELHI: The UPA will be able to keep part of its promise made in the common minimum programme (CMP) on the mid-day meal scheme. The CMP had committed that "a national nutritious mid-day meal scheme, funded mainly by the central government, will be introduced in primary and secondary schools. An appropriate mechanism for quality checks will also be set up." On most counts, it will have succeeded in keeping its commitment.

The proposal to extend the mid-day meal programme to the upper primary classes has already been cleared by the expenditure finance committee (EFC). Plans of streamlining to ensure better delivery are also under consideration. Key issues that are being considered while expanding and improving the delivery of the mid-day meal programme include better fiscal management, more timely release of cooking costs, better cash flow to schools, improvements in grain and other ingredient transportation, the issue of wages for staff and improved monitoring of the programme.

It has been found that much of the delay and inefficiencies in programme implementation is on account of inadequate budgetary provisions. As far as state share for the programme is concerned, it should not fall below the budget estimate for 2005-06. States should make separate budgetary provisions for state programmes for upper primary and secondary, over and above the central components.

The biggest problem the mid-day meal programme faces is the release of cooking costs. The present system of releasing cooking costs is cumbersome. The process takes anywhere between six to eight months at the state level alone. The other area of concern is that of food transportation. At present most states follow a multi-stage transportation system - from the FCI to district warehouses, then from there to the block/taluka warehouses, from there to the fair price shops and then finally to schools. All this increases the scope of wastage and leakage.

Even though these areas of concern remain, reports from monitoring institutions across the states reveal that when it comes to delivery at schools, the mid-day meal programme is on track. Social science institutions have submitted reports on 25 states and Union territories. Barring Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Haryana, where there are some issues, the delivery of the programme seems to be satisfactory. Children in the sampled districts were served "hot food" and as far as nutrition levels are concerned, vegetables and fruits were also served.

The situation in educationally laggard states is also heartening. In states like Bihar, 70% to 80% of children were happy with the quality of the meal while only a third were happy with the quantity. In Chattisgarh and Rajasthan, children who were found to be deficient were given iron, vitamin and deworming tablets.

There also seems to have been a general improvement in the storage system and the cooking facilities for the mid-day meals. Another cause for cheer is the fact that gender, class, and caste discrimination was not reported in most cases. The only areas where this was a cause of concern was in parts of Haryana and Karnataka.